


Just Do It!

by Merrywetherweather



Category: Homestuck
Genre: Alternate Universe - High School, Bickering, Davekat Week, Day 5, Fluff, M/M, Tutoring
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-09-05
Updated: 2015-09-05
Packaged: 2018-04-19 03:21:13
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,382
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4730957
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Merrywetherweather/pseuds/Merrywetherweather
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Davekat Week 2k15 Day 5: Alternate Universe<br/>Highschool au. Dave and Karkat are constantly fighting and being sent to the counselor's office. They get paired up as study buddy's to atone for their bad behavior and learn that they don't actually hate each other all that much?</p>
            </blockquote>





	Just Do It!

**Author's Note:**

> I can't believe I wrote 9-10 pages about losers too pigheaded to realize that they're in love.

“So, let’s review. Why are you both here?” Ms. Porrim Maryam, the guidance counselor bounced her leg agitatedly.

            Karkat and Dave glared at each other, both opening their mouths to speak.

            “He was the one who-!”

            “I didn’t do anything, but-!”

            “Stop,” She interrupted them, pinching the bridge of her nose with her fingers. “This isn’t working. You can’t even answer simple questions. You’re too busy flirting with each other.”

            “ _Flirting_!” Karkat stood up, indignant. “With _that_!”

            Dave raised his hands up defensively. “Hey, yo. I know I’m hot shit, but it’s not my fault that I can’t keep Karkat off of me.”

            Ms. Maryam rubbed her temples. “Forgive me, but I didn’t know what else to call this,” She gestured flippantly at them with one hand, “childish display of hair-pulling. This is the third time this week that you’ve both been sent to my room, and it’s always for the same thing. Detention hasn’t worked. Things haven’t escalated enough for expulsion, but you’re really wearing my patience thin, boys.” She picked up two papers from her desk, shifting her gaze from each one. Her eyes lit up and a devious smile crossed her face.

            That couldn’t be good. Karkat flopped back down into his seat, apprehensive.

            “Dave, I see you’re quite adept at Biology.”

            Dave sat up straighter, hearing someone sing his praises. “Yeah. It’s pretty much the best class. We get to dissect dead stuff.”

            Karkat grimaced.

            “And Mr. Vantas, you seem more than capable in your Literature class. I’ve read some of your papers. Your teacher is constantly showing them off.”

            Karkat felt heat rise to his face. “Thank you.”

            “And, from what I can see, you both seem to be struggling in the area that the other excels.” Oh, no. Karkat could already see where this was going. “Rather than expulsion, I’m going to give you both another option. I want you to tutor each other, one on one sessions, at least twice a week. It’s not much, but I think it’ll be good for you. You might learn something and improve your grades in the process. Those are the terms of this agreement.  Am I understood?”

            Dave nodded. “Sure.”

            “Karkat?” Ms. Maryam prompted him.

            “Yes, ma’am,” He hesitantly replied.

            She slapped the papers down on her desk. “Wonderful! Now get out.”

            Upon exiting the room, Dave immediately whipped out his phone. “You don’t waste any time hopping back onto that damned thing, do you?”

            He pressed at his screen a few times before holding it out to him. “Enter your number.”

            “Look, I don’t think we really need to do all that and I don’t really trust you with-”

            Dave groaned and cupped his hands around his mouth, “Ms. Maryam, Karkat says he’s not going to-”

            Karkat pressed his hands to Dave’s mouth, stifling the call. Dave licked his palms and he pulled back disgusted. “Are you serious? How old are you?”

            “Stop being difficult and enter your number. I’d rather just make plans over the phone than in person.”

            Karkat huffed, “Fine. I can at least agree to that last sentiment.”

                        He entered his information but, before he could save, Dave took the phone from his hands. He typed out something briskly with his fingers before he turned it around and showed Karkat the screen. Karkat’s number was saved under the contact name ‘Karkilicious’.

            “You better change that right the fuck now!”

            “Fuckin make me.”

            “As soon as you call me, you are going to be named something equally insulting.”

            “That’s _if_ I call you. I might keep you waiting. You know? Play a little hard to get.”

            “That’s it! I’m out.” Karkat stomped off down the hall. He hadn’t gotten ten steps before his phone rang. He picked it up, “Hello?”

            “So how’s this Friday lookin?”

            Karkat peered over his shoulder and glared at Dave waving at him as he stood by the counselor’s room.

            Friday rolled around and Karkat was nervous about encountering Dave again, having managed to avoid him since he gave him his number. It wasn’t his fault he was always getting into trouble. Dave was the one that started fights… Most of the time. They never got physical but they were loud and their insults got x-rated enough to cause teachers to become involved.

            Karkat waited underneath the link that separated the middle school from the high school as per Dave’s instructions. He glared at passing middle schoolers, annoyed by their mere presence alone.

            A finger poked him in his side. He jumped. A few passing girls giggled at him. He turned on Dave and snapped at him, “What the fuck do you think you’re doing?”

            “Picking up my girlfriend to walk her home.”

            “You are the slime secreted from swamp toads.”

            “Jesus. I can see why you’re acing English. You have such a colorful vocabulary.” Dave started walking and Karkat fell into step behind him. He had to walk faster, his short legs only being able to match two steps to Dave’s one.

            “You’ll have a finer appreciation for words too once I’m through with you. Will you slow down! I can’t move that fast!” Dave stopped abruptly. Karkat smacked his face into his back. He brought his hands up, covering his nose. “Fuck!”

            “Shit. I’m sorry, dude. You okay?” Dave sounded as unapologetic as ever.  
            “Shut up and keep walking.”

            “Slow down, speed up. Make up your mind already. Always so indecisive.”

            It took twenty minutes to walk to Dave’s apartment complex. He lived on the top floor and by the time Karkat had reached the top step he was wheezing, completely breathless.

            “You’re lookin pretty bad. Maybe we should cancel today. You can go home if you want,” Dave needled him.

            “Strider, if you make me use those goddamn stairs right now, I will personally toss you down them and ride your flailing torso like a surfboard to the bottom step.”

            “To be fair, I did warn you about them when we were deciding on whose house we were studying at.”

            “Open the godforsaken door and please tell me you have air-conditioning.”

            Dave opened his apartment door and Karkat stepped into what he assumed was the Strider living room area. He sighed in relief as the feeling of cool air enveloped him.

            “We’re gonna be in my room for this. My bro’s shit is all over the place out here.”

            Karkat eyed the strangely scattered stuffed animals and puppets. “Sure.”

            Dave’s room was tidier, if not chaotically organized. Wires littered the floor and clotheslines with drying pictures hung from the ceiling. There was also an unsettling amount of dead things in jars cluttering up a perfectly good bookshelf. “I think I’m gonna hurl.”

            “Hey, you’re here to learn biology. Take it in. Behold the glory that is my dead stuff collection. Fuck, I don’t even know what this guy is, or was. I named him Geromy though, so say hi.” Dave held out a jar. In it, floating in what appeared to be a green sludge, was some strange chicken-cat hybrid.

            Karkat quickly pushed the thing out of his face and the image of it out of his mind, hopefully forever. “That is a bookshelf and you are using it to display abominations. What the fuck is wrong with you? Have you ever read a good book?”

            Dave put the monster back in its niche. “I read webcomics sometimes.”

            “I meant like actual literature. Maybe something prescribed by the school?”

            “School books are for squares.” He gestured to Karkat. “Example numero uno.”

Karkat fumed. “What are you _supposed_ to be reading in your class right now?”

Dave picked something up from his dresser and flung it at him. Every fiber in Karkat’s being screamed ‘That is not how you treat books!’ But he successfully kept his mouth shut and read the title instead, “ _The Count of Monte Cristo_?”

“Yep.” Dave flopped into an office chair, arms folded behind his head.

“This is a classic! The way Edmund finds a new love in Haiti at the end… How much have you read?”

“Absolutely none of it.”

“Well, that’s why you aren’t passing, shrimpdick!”

“I don’t like reading. My eyes start to hurt after a while.”

“That’s what audio books are for!”

“Then read it out loud.”

Karkat recoiled from the notion. “I don’t think that’s a good idea.”

Dave sat up and tilted his head to face him. “Why not?”

Karkat kept his eyes focused on the ground, reluctant to reply. “You might end up disliking English even more than you already do if you have to listen to someone you hate read your required book. Sort of like a negative Pavlovian response. Now that I think about it, this entire studying scenario isn’t going to help either of us all that much with that reasoning.”

“I don’t hate you,” a hint of surprise laced Dave’s tone.

Karkat felt his heart squeeze. “You don’t?”

“No. I mean, I can see where you might get that idea, given that we’re always giving each other a hard time… Do you hate me?”

Karkat thought about it before sitting on the ground. “No.” He ran his fingers through his hair. “But then, why do we fight all the time? I mean, sometimes I get so angry and confused and I think I contribute it to not knowing why we’re fighting. How fucking roundabout is that?”

Dave nodded. “Yeah, I can kind of see that. I get hella frustrated too.”

A sudden and uncomfortable thought slipped into Karkat’s mind. Ms. Maryam’s voice echoed in his head, “ _Flirting_.” His heartbeat picked up, suddenly overwhelmed with the realization that he might actually _like_ Dave. He glanced up. Dave remained staring back at him, as poker-faced as ever. Karkat tried to swallow but he felt a lump forming in his throat. He tried to clear it, “Um, maybe we should start studying.”

“Sure.”

“How about we start with bio?”

“Kay.” Dave stood up and pulled out a folding chair, planting it next to his. “Have a seat, my aspiring pupil.”

Karkat made his way over to the chair, nervously planting himself down. He may have been imagining it, but Dave felt awfully close. Maybe too close? The hairs on his arms stood on end. “So where do we start?”

Dave pulled out a notebook. It was covered in tiny doodles, but the inside was filled with neatly written notes. “Well, we’re just starting plant anatomy or botany so let’s get right into that.”

His lips were moving, saying something about anthers or plant sperm or something sexual sounding. Karkat wasn’t paying attention, too focused now on what Dave’s mouth might feel like against his.

“So then there’s moss and they have this entirely different cycle of reproductive stuff that goes down… You still all there?”

“Uh, yeah.” Karkat diverted his eyes from Dave’s face, instead refocusing on the notebook.

Dave sat up and reached forward. His body hovered over Karkat’s and Karkat suddenly had nowhere to look but at Dave. When he pulled back, he had an extra piece of loose-leaf in his hand and a pencil. He held them out to him. “We’re havin a little pop quiz to see how much you’ve learned.”

 _Shit_.

The quiz took Kakat fifteen minutes to complete and it only took Dave three to grade it. “Were you paying attention at all during my entire spiel or was the x-rated lives of plants too distracting for you?” Dave questioned.

Karkat groaned. “Biology is hard, okay? Not everyone is scientifically inclined.”

“Huh.” Dave’s gaze remained fixed on his face. Karkat’s cheeks heated up. He hoped he wasn’t as red as he felt. “Why don’t we take a break from bio, then? I’ll give you my answer key for when you go home to study on your own. For now, just read some of The Count of Puerto Rico.”

“Monte Cristo.”

“Gesundheit.”

Karkat began reading. Dave stayed quiet for the most part, only throwing in an, “Oh snap!” whenever the story made an interesting statement about the human condition. Karkat was really starting to get into the story, even coming up with a few voices for the characters so it was easier for Dave to distinguish when someone new was speaking. He was just approaching the part where Albert was about to be kidnapped when Dave interrupted him, “Hey, Karkat?”  
            “Yes?” Karkat blinked, coming out of the stupor he’d put himself in.

“Do you like me?”

The book fumbled out of Karkat’s hands and landed to the floor. “Shit. Sorry. Uh, Why-Why do you think that?”

Dave continued to observe his reactions from his place in the office chair. “Just a hunch.”

“You shouldn’t ask stuff like that on a hunch.” Karkat kept his eyes focused on the book, brushing it off and checking to see if he had caused it any real harm.

He heard footsteps and when he looked up Dave was standing before him, his face a little too close for comfort. Dave’s hand went up, and Karkat closed his eyes, flinching. He peeked them open and watched Dave pull his shades off, resting them on his head. Dave took a final step closer, bringing his head down and letting their lips connect.

Karkat felt his mind go numb, his eyes fluttering closed and he allowed Dave to snake an arm around his waist to pull him closer until they were flush against each other. When Dave pulled his head back, he was smiling, happily breathing the same air as Karkat. “So in case you haven’t noticed it by now, I like you a whole lot,” Dave pressed his forehead down to Karkat’s.

Karkat’s face was on fire. “Um, yeah.”

“And you?” Dave’s eyes searched his expectantly.

“Um, yes.”

Dave chuckled. “Mr. A-in-English Karkat Vantas at a loss for words. Can’t believe _I_ did that. I better pass this fucking class now.”

Karkat couldn’t help the smile that spread across his face. He batted at Dave’s arm. “Shut the fuck up.”

            “I don’t think this new situation is actually going to change how often we end up in the counselor’s office.”

            Karkat tilted his head confused. “Why?”

            “We’re gonna be in there for too much PDA from now on.” Dave leaned back down do give him another kiss.

**Author's Note:**

> Fucking fight me!


End file.
